The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 286
ARGUMENT FOR SAYYED AHMAD KHAN 285 wahy [revelations] from God; that is, they have not descended from Him, but were incorporated in the Holy Quran by the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, on hearsay from the Jews and Christians? If this be the case, the greater part of the Noble Quran will have to be excluded from that Holy Word; for, what is recorded on hearsay from the Jews and Christians would actually be the words of such Jews and Christians and not the Word of God Almighty. There would be another serious dilemma. The Noble Quran, in the case of several accounts of the Torah, tells a different story, and, this being so, it would have to be admitted that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in his simplicity and ignorance, inserted in the Noble Quran whatever the mischievous Jews related to him by way of deceit. Now, one should contemplate that if a man believes that the Noble Quran contains hearsay information from the Jews and Christians, how can he say that he considers the Noble Quran to be the Word of God Almighty? Notwithstanding, I think that you do not entertain this belief at heart. The star of Western philosophy may have appeared very glittering to you, but—God forbid—how could it be possible that you would ever uproot the deep and firm belief from your heart which permeates your very being not only because you belong to Islam, but also because of your Sayyed lineage—which is that every word of the Noble Quran is verbally revealed? Could it be possible that you would alternatively allow yourself to hold the belief that the stories and accounts of past events found in the Noble Quran are not the unadul- terated tidings of the unseen, but are taken from Jews and Christians? The dilemma is that if you believe that all the stories from Hadrat Adam up to Hadrat Masīḥ, [Jesus], peace be upon him, presented in the Holy Quran by Allah, His eminence be glorified, are the unadul- terated tidings of the unseen and are above and beyond human nature and capacity, your principle that wahy [revelation] is nothing but a nat- ural human capability breaks down. For, human nature cannot develop Divine powers within itself. The natural capacity of everyone is limited